You think that this is the worst with Joel Embiid? Settling for threes and trying...whatever this is instead of overpowering everyone in the post?
How about this? An attempt for a eurostep against 2 defenders with an underhanded flip shot that ends...infamous.
Let me show you how Joel Embiid is sometimes hurting the Sixers, and how Philly gave Atlanta the win. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
In the second half of game 4 Embiid went 0 for 12 from the field. Not a single made field goal. That’s the most attempts in a half without a make over the last 25 postseasons.
And how he achieved this is mostly by settling for difficult shots.
Right here, instead of being aggressive in trying to get to the rim, he takes no contact, and just shoots a contested 1 legged fadeaway that ends up being an airball.
Again, look at this: He’s at least in the paint so I’ll give him that but look- there’s no contact, no obstruction by Capella here. He’s not working hard on defense at all. This makes it easy for him. You’re bailing him out.
Instead of just bangin down low and musclin inside- you see that the Hawks center is unable to stop this, he is physically inferior.
Or this right here, look at the hard drive, the bullyball, as Capella literally bounces off of him. This is unstoppable.
Late in the 4th with the game on the line- this is the exact same position like the previous clip, but instead check out what he opts for. No movement, no effort, hand in his face jumper is short of course, giving Atlanta a chance to take the lead.
Which they did, and ended up winning the game despite having absolutely no business in doing that, after being dominated for the majority of the game.
And when you watch some of their totally chaotic possessions down the stretch where they looked like a high school team, having no idea what to do- you understand just how much the Sixers helped them out and practically gifted a game to this team, making the series more interesting for us the neutral viewers.
Trae Young looked like he was bothered by the shoulder and shot 8 for 26 in this game which is 30.8% and they still found a way to get a win. Like for real, he missed the entire basket on this completely wide open look. They won this game.
When you analyze and compare all the important numbers, it makes no sense to me how they were able to come out victorious. Like look at this.
Field goal and three point percentage are way better for the Sixers. They also led in rebounds, and the assists were neck and neck. Really I gotta admit I’m confused.
Now, Joel did say in his postgame interview that he wasn’t 100% and is dealing with knee problems but at this point, either play aggressive all the way, or don’t play at all, this is sort of like a lose-lose situation. Possibly re-aggravating an injury, while being passive and not being helpful to the team.
And if you’re a Philly fan I don’t how long you can go like this. Battling all this stress with Embiid. When he plays, at times he’s the MVP, but then sometimes, especially after he hits 1 or 2 he turns into this jump shooter frustrating everyone watching the game. And that’s when he plays at all. Then you got all of his injury problems, the missed games, the load management, the grimassing on the court, and literally every fall he takes looks scary and a possible injury.
I don’t know, to me you guys, the Philly fans are the real MVP.
So yeah, we’ll just have to wait and see which version of Joel we’re gonna get in a pivotal game 5. Will he decide to dominate, or take this route again? And on top of that- if he’s healthy enough to play at all. Stay tuned. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.